Category: Feminism

It’s that time of year when you start to sneer at Pumpkin Spice Lattes (but secretly want one) and pick out a new pair of ankle-boots that you refuse to take off until next March. Autumn- the season for slogan sweaters and lazing about on weekends with a book in a comfy chair.

This is a list of jumpers/sweaters featuring literary motifs or slogans (peak 2017), which you can smugly wear on casual Friday or during weekend plans with friends to remind people that yes, you Read.

Warner Brothers have just announced that there is to be a fresh adaptation of the 1945 William Golding novel, Lord of the Flies. It might not be your kind of thing, but think of how helpful it will be for all those school kids steadfastly not reading the book.

Except, this adaptation has gone a bit wrong. Already. Quite wrong. It’s going to feature an ‘all-female cast.’ The two male directors may have missed the point…

Like this:

If you missed part one of this challenge, you can find it here, part two is here, and part three has just been published here.

Virago is a British publishing company, founded in 1973, with the intention of giving voice and publishing presence to female authors. Since then, the mission statement has expanded to include authors and reprinted works with a broader positive intention; LGBTQ texts; books written by non-binary authors; works which reflect a diversity of neurological conditions and mental illnesses; and lots more. You can find Virago online here, where they have a fascinating timeline of their own history.

Romance novels get a bad rap, and it is entirely possible to find good, heart-warming stories that aren’t poorly written or saccharine sweet. However with Fifty Shades and its brethren being the most often donated texts to charity bookshops, you might assume that the reading public are looking for something with a bit more substance (and a bit less bite?).

Last year the QI Elves reported that one Oxfam shop had received so many copies of E. L. James’ work, that they had constructed a creepy book fort:

So here is a list of six much better books for you to check out on Valentine’s Day- and if you’ve got someone for whom you need to buy a last minute present, don’t say I haven’t given you plenty of great ideas.